Texas Tech football: Red Raiders that have not met expectations thus far

Oct 3, 2020; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats wide receiver Malik Knowles (4) just misses a catch against Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker Colin Schooler (17) during a game at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Colin Schooler

Like most Red Raider fans, I was guilty of placing too high of expectations on linebacker Colin Schooler. After all, he only joined the program in mid-August, weeks after fall camp had begun.

But his reputation as one of the best linebackers in the nation was just too much to ignore. When he arrived from Arizona, he was the second-leading active tackler in the country (313) and the NCAA active leader in tackles per loss (46).

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For whatever reason, Schooler just hasn’t made much of an impact as a Red Raider. After missing the opener, he has registered just 17 tackles, which is an average of just 5.6 per game.

Extrapolate that out over a 12-game season and that’s just 68. That total would be his career-low by 28 tackles.

What’s more, Schooler has just 0.5 tackles for loss. Prior to this year, his career-low in that category was the 11 he had in 2019.

Certainly, this scheme is different than the one he was executing at Arizona. Maybe it has taken him longer to pick it up than we anticipated it would, especially if he has missed practice time.

Or it might be that he’s playing out of position. Schooler was primarily a middle LB with the Wildcats but at Tech, he’s been asked to be an outside LB. While those positions are similar, the nuanced differences between the two may be forcing Schooler to think while on the field rather than simply playing on instinct.

So far, Schooler has been a decent addition. He ranks seventh on the team in tackles and he has had at least six stops in two of the three games he’s played.

However, he hasn’t been the Colin Schooler that played for Arizona and that’s not surprising given how little time he had to prepare with his new team. Still, he has to fall into the camp of players who haven’t met expectations, even if those expectations were a bit too high to begin with.